The CBE prepared from Chinese Vegetable tallow is used as high grade substitute for natural cocoa butter and it may be extensively used in the production of chocolate and candies of high quality.
The CVT, which is white in color, non toxic and edible, is the solid fat of the seed of the Chinese Tallow tree, encapsulating the internal shell of the kernel seed. The Chinese Tallow Trees (Sapium sebiferium L. Roxb) is of Chinese origin and grows in vast numbers in most of the provinces of China. They cover the subtropic and warm-temperature zone. Their total fat output per acre is higher than that of the oil palm (Elaeis guinensis). The Chinese Tallow Tree has been introduced into the southern coastal region of the U.S. and it may be possible to cultivate it over the world. Research for the development of the Chinese Tallow Tree is the focus of attention in U.S., India, Pakistan, U.K., Japan and Brazil. The CVT contains rich triglycerides with oleic acid radicals located in the B-position. It is a cheap and abundant raw material for CBE in China specifically.
However, the type of seeds mentioned above contain both solid fat (CVT) and a liquid oil (Stillingia oil). The Stillingia oil is toxic and unedible. Therefore, in an industrial production of CVT it is necessary to use suitable processing and technology, and to control the quality of CVT to insure the purity of CVT and the stability of CBE quality.
Recently, two experimental methods of manufacturing Cocoa Butter Equivalent (CBE) from Chinese Vegetable Tallow (CVT) as the starting material have been proposed. In one method, raw CVT is treated with acetone or #8 light gasoline, crystallized for 3 to 6 hours, filtered under constant temperature and, after removing the solvent under reduced pressure from the product, the product is refined using three processes (i.e. deacidification, decolorization and deodorization (steam distillation)). The second process begins with CVT which has been refined (using the steps of deacidification, decolorization and deodorization), then dissolved in organic solvents (acetone or #8 light gasoline), crystallized, filtered under constant temperature, and the solvent removed from the product-containing filtrate under reduced pressure. The efficiency of a method of fractional crystallization using raw CVT as a starting material would be affected by the presence of large amounts of impurities.
The CBE product obtained when using refined CVT as a starting material but no after treatment may be contaminated with introduced impurities, moisture, residual solvents, etc. Also, solvent and energy consumption in removing solvents such as acetone or #8 light gasoline is high. Further, the crystallization processes are long and the quality of product if low.
The literature concerning the above process does not indicate any quality specifications nor any test means. The raw CVT might be contaminated by toxic materials such as stillingia oil, but no requirements of controlling the stillingia oil are indicated. Since only conventional methods of refining (deacidification, decolorization and deodorizing) are used without any indication of toxicity test on experimental animals, the edibility of the product cannot be insured.